Ex-Myntra joins pi Ventures as venture partner

pi Ventures has appointed former Myntra executive Shamik Sharma as a venture partner.

Fashion e-tailer Myntra‘s former chief product and technology officer Shamik Sharma has joined pi Ventures as a partner to draw its product roadmap and hire talent, the early-stage fund said. The City-based venture fund is focused on applied Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and Internet of Things (IoT). “Sharma will help the founders understand technology and IP (Intellectual Property) of product firms and bring startups aligned with our investment theme to their deal pipeline,” the company said in a statement.

With 17 years in technology domain and a long career in the Bay area of the US Silicon Valley, Sharma was vice-president of software at Lytro, a light field camera start-up in the US and held an executive role in RockYou, StumbleUpon and Yahoo. “Sharma brings high value as an angel investor and technology advisor to several Indian startups. With the capability to understand roadblocks from the technology perspective, he will mentor and enable start-ups to achieve their goal at a faster pace,” the statement said.

Sharma’s experience of hiring talent to build teams at large firms and startups will benefit the venture fund and their portfolio as they plan to invest in 18-20 startups over the next three to four years. “With two decades of experience and business wisdom, Sharma is a great addition to our team. His mix of technical expertise, product design and business experience will play a key role in enriching our investment decisions and welcome help for our founders,” said pi’s founding partner Manish Singhal in the statement.

Assuring pi founders and partners of his help in building the next-generation start-ups, Sharma said focus on technology-based opportunities will help create many products and businesses out of India. The year-old pi focuses on healthcare, logistics, retail, fin-tech and enterprise sectors. Backed by leading entrepreneurs, the fund brings hands-on product and entrepreneurial experience to the India venture investing ecosystem.